Three takeaways from the Dallas Wings’ home opener versus the Atlanta Dream
The Dallas Wings were seeking to win back-to-back games to start the season when they hosted the Atlanta Dream in their home opener on Tuesday night.
But the Wings fell short with a 77-72 loss to the Dream at College Park Center.
Here are three takeaways from the Wings’ season opener.
Star watch
The Dallas Wings scored a franchise record for points in a season opener with 107 points on Saturday at the Indiana Fever. But on Tuesday, the Wings struggled from the field and shot 38.4%.
After making double-digit threes and shooting 52% on Saturday, the Wings struggled on Tuesday against the Dream behind the arc, going 4 for 26.
Arike Ogunbowale was the Wings’ leading scorer on Tuesday with 20 points. She surged in the third quarter by scoring half of the team’s 16 points off a variety of layups and contested jumpers.
Head coach Jose Fernandez talked about Ogunbowale’s shot making on a night the Wings struggled from the field.
“I mean the shooting percentage, right? She had to take some, take a couple tough ones late in the clock. I think she was getting to the rim more, right. But again, she can’t play 36 minutes a night, right?” said Fernandez.
Ogunbowale talked about the team needing to do better on night when shots aren’t falling but said she didn’t know how many of those there would be.
“It’s so early, like this is game two, we definitely got a lot of good shots. We just couldn’t knock them down today. But with all the people that we have, I can’t see that happen too many times, but if it does, like, we have to be ready to guard. And that was just our biggest message,” said Ogunbowale.
After shooting 80% from the field versus the Fever, Wings star Paige Bueckers had a quiet game versus the Dream. Bueckers finished with 15 points on 41.7% shooting with three assists and two rebounds.
Three-point defense
Before the game, Fernandez said that defending at the three-point line would be crucial. His team answered the call early on by holding the Dream to 4-of-19 shooting on threes in the first half.
The second half was more of the same from the Dream, which shot 2 for 6 in the third quarter (before getting hot in the fourth, going 3 of 6 from three before the game was out of hand). All-Star Rhyne Howard was held in check from beyond the arc. She made 1 of 8. Howard finished the game with 14 points.
The Dream shot 27% from three, but Fernandez focuses on two shots that helped win the game for the dream from beyond the arc.
“I mean, they took 33 of them. They shot 27% but the two that the two that gray hit, were huge, right the one out of the baseline, out of bounds, and then the other one. So you hold them to [27%] but you lose by five, we’ll look at it, we’ll be better, and we’ll go from there,” said Fernandez.
The first three came with 9:13 left in the game gave the Dream a two point lead and the second came on their next offensive possession to push the lead to five and put Atlanta in the driver's seat.
Azzi Fudd sidelined
The Wings got bad news before the game with the news that Azzi Fudd would miss the game with a right knee injury. Fernandez did not specify if the injury was long- or short-term.
“I’m not gonna get into the minutes’ situation on opening night. Out of abundance of caution for her long-term health we’re keeping her out tonight,” said Fernandez on Tuesday.
“I’m not gonna discuss anything medically in regards to her, or what she has done in practice or what she hasn’t done in practice. She’s a big part of this team, there’s a reason we drafted her No. 1, and she’s gonna have a great season for the Wings,” said Fernandez.
The Wings are set to play host to the Minnesota Lynx on Thursday. The game will air on Amazon Prime at 7 p.m.
This story was originally published May 12, 2026 at 9:27 PM.
